Contractions in English
Contractions are shortened forms of words and phrases, in which some letters or sounds are omitted. An apostrophe marks the omission. Most contractions in English combine two words to form a single shorter word—for example, do and not combine to form don’t. A contraction may also simply be a single word that is shortened, such as ma’am.
At the end of this article is a full list of standard contractions in English, but here is a quick cheat sheet.
| Full form | Contraction | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| not | n’t | isn’t (is not), don’t (do not), hasn’t (has not), can’t (cannot) |
| is, has | ’s | she’s (she is, she has), what’s (what is, what has) |
| are | ’re | you’re (you are), we’re (we are) |
| have | ’ve | I’ve (I have), could’ve (could have) |
| had, would | ’d | I’d (I had, I would), we’d (we had, we would) |
| will | ’ll | I’ll (I will), you’ll (you will) |
| I am | I’m | |
| let us | let’s | |
| madam | ma’am |
As you can see, standard contractions include those that shorten the word not (like don’t, couldn’t), forms of the be verb (I’m, you’re, he’s), the have verb (I’ve, she’s), and the modal verbs will and would (he’ll, you’d). Two other common contractions are ma’am and let’s. We discuss their usage in more detail below, with examples.
Contracted be verb
Forms of the be verb (is, am, are) often join with pronouns (such as I, you, she, they, someone) to form contractions.
- Hi, I’m Maya. (I am)
- You’re right. (you are)
- She’s funny that way. (she is)
- They’re waiting. (they are)
- It’s 3 a.m. (it is)
- Something’s wrong. (something is)
- Everyone’s here. (everyone is)
The be verb can also join with nouns to form contractions. These are common in speech and informal writing but not seen in edited prose (except in dialogue in fiction) and never in formal writing.
- Rita’s here. (Rita is)
- The cat’s asleep on the couch. (cat is)
Plural contractions are rarer still in writing (The cats’re asleep).
The be verb can also combine with adverbs to form contractions in speech and informal usage.
- Now’s the best time to call her.
- Here’s your money.
- There’s nothing here.
Be verb with not
The be verb (is, are, am) contracts with not in two ways: you can either contract the verb form itself or contract not.
- Contracted not: Anita isn’t ready.
is not = isn’t
- Contracted be verb: She’s not ready.
she is = she’s
The word not is contracted more often with nouns.
- Farley isn’t happy.
Seen more often than “Farley’s not happy.” (The name “Farley” of course is a noun.)
- The books aren’t here.
Seen more often than “The books’re not here.”
But with pronouns, the verb form is contracted more often instead.
- She’s not happy.
Seen more often than “She isn’t happy” (where “she” is a pronoun).
- They’re not here.
Seen more often than “They aren’t here.”
Contracted have verb
The have verb combines with pronouns and nouns and contracts to ’ve, ’s, or ’d.
- I’ve been looking for this. (I have been)
- You’ve gone and booked the tickets, haven’t you? (you have gone)
- It’s been fun. (it has been)
- He’s found the answer. (he has found)
- I can’t believe Maya’s published another book. (Maya has published)
- He’d left by the time you got here. (he had left)
The have verb is not contracted in writing when it is the main verb in a sentence and means “to possess.”
- Poor: Poco’s seven cars in his garage.
The main verb is has: Poco has. Don’t contract it.Better: Poco has seven cars in his garage.
- Poor: We’d no money.
Better: We had no money. - Acceptable: Poco’s bought another car.
The main verb is bought: Poco has bought. Has functions as an auxiliary (or helping) verb and can be contracted.
- Acceptable: We’d discovered the cure by then.
Contracted will and would
The modal verbs will and would contract to ’ll and ’d in casual communication.
- You’ll figure it out. (you will)
- You’d never know the difference. (you would)
- I’ll call you tomorrow. (I will)
- As kids, we’d play in the woods after school. (we would)
- They’d pretend I wasn’t there. (they would)
Contractions with multiple meanings
The contracted form ’d can mean both would and had. Context makes it clear what you’re referring to.
- She’d left by the time you arrived. (she had)
- She’d often stop by on her way to work. (she would)
Similarly, the contracted form ’s can represent both is and has.
- It’s raining. (it is)
- It’s been raining all morning. (it has)
Another interesting contraction is what’s, which can mean what is, what has, and even what does in informal usage.
- What’s going on? (what is)
- What’s happened? (what has)
- What’s that mean? (what does)
Exception: Let’s
Let’s is an exception in that it is a contraction of let us, not let is or let has (which options would be nonsensical anyway).
- Let’s go. (let us)
- Let’s start a business together. (let us)
Contractions in questions
Negative forms using not are contracted in questions both in speech and formal usage.
- Hasn’t Rita returned from Neptune yet?
Not “Has not Rita returned yet?” which would sound odd and archaic.
- Don’t you want to get paid?
- Couldn’t you find the answer?
- Can’t you see I’m busy?
Negative question tags are also always contracted.
- Farley should be given another chance, shouldn’t he?
Not “Should not he?”
- Rita has come back, hasn’t she?
- Help me out, won’t you?
Forms of be and have can combine with question words like who and what in speech.
- What’s going on? (what is)
- What’s happened to him? (what has)
- What’ve you done? (what have)
- Where’s Anita when you need her? (where is)
- Where’s she gone? (where has)
- Where’ve you been? (where have)
- Who’s that? (who is)
- Who’s been eating all my porridge? (who has)
- Who’ve you been talking to? (who have)
Contractions of words like what, where, and there with the plural verb are (what’re, where’re, there’re) are less common than singular forms (what’s, where’s, there’s).
Contraction at end of sentence
Don’t use affirmative contractions at the end of a sentence or a clause.
- Incorrect:“Have you ordered the shoes?” “Yes, I’ve.”
Correct:“Have you ordered the shoes?” “Yes, I have.” - Incorrect:“Are you ready?” “I don’t know that I’m.”
Correct:“Are you ready?” “I don’t know that I am.” - Incorrect:“Would you help me if you could?” “Of course I’d.”
Correct: “Would you help me if you could?” “Of course I would.”
It’s fine to use negative contractions to end a sentence or a clause.
- Correct: No, I haven’t.
- Correct: Of course I wouldn’t.
When to use: Considerations of formality
Contractions are common in speech and informal and creative writing, such as in dialogue.
- She’s here. (she is)
- I don’t know. (do not)
- I’m happy to help. (I am)
- We’ve found it! (we have)
- Let’s not argue. (let us)
- “Didn’t I tell you not to call him?” “Oh, don’t do that. It’s not my fault this happened.”
Avoid using contractions in formal texts, such as cover letters, academic papers, and business reports, which require a more formal tone.
- Informal: We haven’t accounted for changes in pressure in this study.
Formal: We have not accounted for changes in pressure in this study.
Contraction vs. possessive
Both contractions and possessives may contain a noun followed by an apostrophe and s. An easy way to check is to try expanding the term: if you can expand it to two words, it’s a contraction; otherwise, it’s a possessive.
- Maya’s here.
Maya’s = Maya is (contraction)
- Maya’s cat is here.
the cat that belongs to Maya = possessive
Possessive pronouns (like hers, theirs, its) never contain an apostrophe. If you have an apostrophe and s with a pronoun, it’s a contraction, not a possessive. For example, it’s (with the apostrophe) is a contraction of it is or it has, while its (without an apostrophe) is a possessive.
- Contraction: It’s a beautiful day. (it is)
Possessive: Its cover is lost. (the cover of something) - Contraction: Who’s this person in the photo? (who is)
Possessive: Whose photo is this? (the photo of someone) - Contraction: She’s here. (she is)
Possessive: This is hers. (something that belongs to her)
If you can expand it, it’s a contraction, not a possessive.
Standard contractions in English
Here is a useful list of commonly used contractions in English.
| Contraction | Meaning |
|---|---|
| don’t | do not |
| didn’t | did not |
| isn’t | is not |
| wasn’t | was not |
| aren’t | are not (also am not) |
| weren’t | were not |
| hasn’t | has not |
| haven’t | have not |
| hadn’t | had not |
| can’t | cannot |
| couldn’t | could not |
| shan’t | shall not |
| shouldn’t | should not |
| won’t | will not |
| wouldn’t | would not |
| mightn’t | might not |
| mustn’t | must not |
| oughtn’t | ought not |
| needn’t | need not |
| could’ve | could have |
| should’ve | should have |
| would’ve | would have |
| might’ve | might have |
| must’ve | must have |
| I’m | I am |
| you’re | you are |
| she’s | she is, she has |
| he’s | he is, he has |
| it’s | it is, it has |
| we’re | we are |
| they’re | they are |
| I’ve | I have |
| you’ve | you have |
| we’ve | we have |
| they’ve | they have |
| I’ll | I will |
| you’ll | you will |
| he’ll | he will |
| she’ll | she will |
| it’ll | it will |
| we’ll | we will |
| they’ll | they will |
| I’d | I had, I would |
| you’d | you had, you would |
| she’d | she had, she would |
| he’d | he had, he would |
| it’d | it had, it would |
| we’d | we had, we would |
| they’d | they had, they would |
| that’s | that is, that has |
| that’ve | that have |
| that’d | that would |
| which’ve | which have |
| who’s | who is, who has |
| who’re | who are |
| who’ve | who have |
| who’d | who had, who would |
| who’ll | who will |
| what’s | what is, what has, what does |
| what’re | what are |
| what’ll | what will |
| where’s | where is, where has |
| where’d | where did |
| when’s | when is, when has |
| why’s | why is, why has |
| why’d | why did |
| how’s | how is, how has |
| here’s | here is |
| there’s | there is, there has |
| there’ll | there will |
| there’d | there had, there would |
| someone’s | someone is, someone has |
| somebody’s | somebody is, somebody has |
| no one’s | no one is, no one has |
| nobody’s | nobody is, nobody has |
| something’s | something is, something has |
| nothing’s | nothing is, nothing has |
| let’s | let us |
| ma’am | madam |
| o’clock | of the clock |
English also has other contracted forms, some of which are nonstandard and avoided in writing. For a full discussion, see Types of Contractions in English.